Bulb Boy is a point and click adventure game which is simultaneously charming, gross, funny, and terrifying. Bulb Boy himself fits in with this description of his game as on the one hand he is an ordinary boy who lives at home with his grandfather and his pet dog while on the other hand he is an utterly alien creature capable of unscrewing his light bulb head from the rest of his body. Fans of Courage the Cowardly Dog will almost certainly fall in love with this game as Bulb Boy’s house is transformed into a surrealistic hellscape by a mysterious and hostile otherworldly force. The aesthetics are easily the main draw here; the entire game is saturated in an eerie green glow, the soundtrack has an otherworldly feel even during peaceful scenes, and the character and monster designs are brilliantly bizarre.
For his part, Bulb Boy doesn’t have any dialogue beyond an occasional word or sound, but he is extremely expressive when performing any given action, whether it is hugging his toy rabbit or chopping off a giant creepy hand. This is a fairly short game and the puzzles are generally on the easy side of things (though never trivial), but each and every moment is crafted with care. The tone also wildly and deliberately swings back and forth between lighthearted and horrifying as you solve puzzles within peacefully weird flashback scenes only to abruptly find yourself facing the disgusting and often-deadly horrors which have taken over the house. Much like Halloween itself, Bulb Boy masterfully blends together extremes, making it a perfect match for the season.